NIT blockade: End protest now, J&K minister urges students

Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh met the students on Saturday, said their demands will be met immediately

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh on Saturday said the NIT stalemate should end as most of the demands of the protesting students have been accepted.

Government medical college students in Jammu during a protest against the police action on non-Kashmiri students in NIT Srinagar

Representatives of protesting non-local students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar again met Jammu and Kashmir's deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh on Saturday even as they continued boycotting classes.

After meeting the students, Nirmal Singh said they demanded high speed Internet, uninterrupted electric power supply and other professional facilities.

"They are professional students who need things like high speed Internet connectivity, uninterrupted electric power supply and other professional facilities. We have assured them that these demands would be immediately met," he said.

The non-local students of the NIT are, however, continuing their protest.

On Friday, Nirmal Singh, education minister Naeem Akhtar, NIT director Rohit Gupta, a three-member team of the union human resource ministry, senior civil and police officers of Jammu and Kashmir government held over five-hour deliberations with the representatives of protesting non-local students at the official residence of the deputy chief minister in Srinagar.

Among other demands, the students want action against policemen who allegedly entered the NIT campus on April 4 and beat them up. Police maintain the protesting students indulged in violence, damaging public property and roughing up a senior police officer.

The state government has ordered a probe by the additional district development commissioner Srinagar into the NIT unrest. The enquiry officer has been directed to submit the report within 15 days.

The three-member team of the HRD ministry will also submit its report on the NIT unrest to the union ministry. To instil confidence among the non-local students, paramilitary troops have been deployed inside the campus.